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MR. CUTTING'S DISCOURSE. 



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INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY 



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GOVERNMENT AND SLAVERY: 



A. DISCOURSZ:, 



DELIVERED IN THE BAPTIST CHURCH, 






W^EST BOYLSTON, MASS. 



JAirUARY 15, 1837. r^^«^ 



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BY SEWALL S. CUTTING, 

Pastor. 



TFORCESTER: 

PRINTED BY HENRY J. ROWLAND. 
1837. 



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PREFATORY NOTE. 

The particular reasons for publishing the following Discourse would be of no interest 
to the public, and need not therefore be mentioned. The publication will answer the 
purpose intended, and that is all I desire. In justice to myself, however, I ought to 
say, that I have not made my first appearance before the public, a youth and unknown, 
in a sermon prepared in the ordinary course of my ministrations, and which I had sup- 
posed would be, as soon as delivered, laid by for no future use, without the concurrent 
opinion of judicious friends. 

I gave notice to my congregation, sometime since, that I intended to preach a series 
of Discourses on the "Influence of Christianity on the external life of man," as furnish- 
ing evidence of the truth of our Religion ; and this was the second of the series. If it be 
objected that Government and Slavery are too distinct topics for the same discourse, I 
have therefore to replj', that they are only parts of a generaJ subject. The lengthy 
quotations from a number of writers, I made because I thought that their names and 
their language, uttered in the progress of delivery, would make abetter impression than 
the same facts stated in my own words. 



DISCOURSE. 



MATTHEW 13: 33. 

Another parable spake he unto them : The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, 
which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened. 

On the last Sabbath we interpreted this passage, and adopted so 
much of the interpretation as refers to the influence of Christianity 
upon the external relations of life, as the topic of discourse. We 
then proceeded to shew liow it is that Christianity exerts her influ- 
ence — and thence deduced the practical lesson that in order to in- 
crease and perpetuate this influence, we must work as Christianity 
works, or she will spurn our alliance. A summary of that discourse 
is briefly this : Christianity awakens a new life in the hearts of in- 
dividuals, and they manifest this life externally in the fruits of the 
Spirit. They are made better men by their religion. Their re- 
ligion becomes the supporter of justice, the patroness of industry, 
art, letters, and science, and thus brings out into reality the noblest 
powers and faculties of man. By these good works the world are 
compelled to glorify God, and Christianity thus becomes authorita- 
tive in Society. It is therefore plain that the further authority of the 
Faith in Society, must be promoted without the slightest deviation 
from this model. We must begin where Christianity begins, and 
make our mightiest effort where she makes hers. She begins and 
carries on her work in the heart and life, and there by the power of 
the Cross, she brings her heaviest armoury to bear. Therefore to 
create men anew in Christ Jesus and promote their holy living, 
should be our first and determined aim. You will then have an in- 
carnate rebuke of the sins of the world, and the language which you 
speak will be regarded as the voice of God. The doctrines of the 
Cioss must be preached as the renovator of the world, and the 
Holy Spirit must be sought by the united prayer of the church, to 



render this preaching effectual. When a deeper, and more per- 
vading piety developes itself in the church, then may the church 
with better success wage and carry on her present tumultuous war 
against particular sins. This model Christ and his Apostles fol" 
lowed, and this model must we follow also. 

It will now be our aim in this and the future discourses of this 
series, to show what Christianity in the period of its History has 
accomplished, in conforming the external relations of life to its spirit 
— and this we propose to do by looking at its influence in removing 
or modifying specific evils, and substituting in their place its own 
peculiar blessings. 

1. Let us notice its injluence on Government. 

Government has its ground in the idea of the just — an idea be- 
longing among the essential elements of the human mind — the idea 
which always commands right and prohibits wrong — and that gov- 
ernment is therefore most perfect which developes this idea most 
perfectly. That is, that government is most perfect which secures to 
all its subjects their proper rights, through righteous and righteously 
enforced laws — and whose subjects, under such laws, are most loyal 
and obedient. It is this fundamental idea of the human mind which 
is developed in the government of a family; and that family govern- 
ment you well understand is best, which makes just regulations, 
and secures the most ready obedience from those whose duty it is to 
obey. Whatever therefore will make parents just, and children 
obedient — thus securing order and peace to a family, bestows a 
blessing on domestic life. And so whatever will make rulers equi- 
table and firm, and subjects quiet and subordinate, bestows a bless- 
ing on government. Now does Christianity tend to this result 1 — 
and are the governments of Christendom more perfect developments 
of the just, than governments were previously to their coming un- 
der the influence of Christianity ? We answer, Yes. 

Christianity aims to induce in the heart those very principles 
which will make rulers and subjects what they ought to be. It aims 
to elevate man's fallen spirit to that state in which he will do right 
spontaneously — that is, in which he will have no disposition to do 
wrong, and in which he will do right because he loves the right. 
You see therefore at once that if Christianity does work this effect, 
or approximates towards it, rulers and subjects will be better as a 
matter of course. The ruler will do right in making right laws, 
and the subject will do right in obeying those laws. In proportion 
as the ruler imbibes the spirit of Christianity, his laws will approxi- 



mate to the law of the Bible; and in proportion as the subject im- 
bibes the same spirit, he will render obedience to such a Govern- 
ment as to God. The voice of the ruler but echoes the voice of 
God, and the ruler will be obeyed as the minister of God. If the 
government be popular like ours, the result will not be different. The 
laws of the nation will advance in righteousness with the elevation 
of the general moral sentiment. When the general moral senti- 
ment becomes inspired and modified, in a higher degree, by the pro- 
gressive influence of Christianity, the laws will be the faithful ex- 
pression of that moral progress — and in such a community, un- 
der such laws, there will be quietness and peace. Righteousness 
will be justly and firmly maintained, and wickedness as justly and 
firmly punished. 

All this is the necessary development of the Christian Faith. 
But you are aware that the Bible unvaryingly demands as a duty, 
whatever is truly and properly the offspring of religion in the heart. 
Therefore you hear the Bible denouncing tyranny, and threatening 
woes upon the oppressor; — and you also hear it demanding submis- 
sion to law, and behold on its pages the record of our Saviour's sub- 
mission, when he paid the tribute money to an oppressive despo- 
tism. The Bible demands righteousness in magistrates, and sub- 
mission in subjects — it demands submission even when Nero sits 
upon the throne ! 

Thus you see that the elements of good government are found 
in the very spirit of Christianity, and that the conditions of good 
government are enforced, by its positive precepts, as practical du- 
ties. We have reason to expect then that government will be influ- 
enced by our religion — and our only further question therefore shall 
be, has government been thus influenced? 

This is a question of fact, and must be decided by an appeal to 
facts. Now without controversy it is well known that in all the 
savage and barbarous nations of the world, questions of right resolve 
themselves into questions of strength. He that can conquer is the 
absolute ruler. Moral principle hardly developes itself in the laws. 
And if we advance one step f\u-ther in the progress of nations with- 
out Christianity, we shall find that although there are frequent traces 
of moral principle in the legal codes, yet these are hardly discernible 
among the enactments of falsehood ; — and that since the grounds 
of moral obligation are neither known nor felt among the people, 
the little morality of the law speaks almost in vain, and insurrec- 
tions and assassinations, and anarchy, are the unhappy results that af- 



flict them. The republics of Greece and Rome are illustrious in- 
stances of government as perfect as it could be without the Faith, 
and yet miserably imperfect. Rulers did not hesitate on the slight- 
est provocation to slay thousands, and tens of thousands of their 
subjects ; and on the other hand, the infuriated people did not hesi- 
tate to slay thousands of the nobles. But about one in ten of the 
Emperors of Rome previous to Constantino, escaped a violent 
death. The principle of our religion that rulers should rule justly, 
and subjects obey peaceably, was hardly awakened in the heart, 
and there was safety for neither property, nor limb, nor life. 

Now how wide the contrast between government of such sort, 
and the iree, and in general Christian constitutions of England and 
the United States — the most free and most Christian countries on 
the globe ? The difference is immeasurably great. There are it 
is true in both these countries great and oppressive evils — for these 
I make no apology — and the laws are not always enforced — but prop- 
erty and limb, and life, are regarded as sacred ; — and both coun- 
tries reiterate the sentiment of the Bible that rulers shall rule justly 
and subjects obey quietly. And if you will study the characteris- 
tics of the different nations on earth, you will invariably find that 
their justice and peace and permanence, are in exact proportion to 
their reverence of the Christian Faith. Moreover if you will go 
back through the ages which have intervened between the times of 
the Grecian and Roman republics and this, you will find that the 
progress of government has ever been side by side with that of our 
religion. Christian rulers were the first to rule with justice, and 
Christian subjects the first to practise a quiet subordination. The 
laws of the Visigoths, of Charlemagne, of Basilius and Lotharius, 
made special provisions for the poor, the widow and the orphan, 
that they might be saved from the oppression of the rich in courts 
of Justice, and be pitied and fed ; — and this they did on the ground 
of Christian obligation. Tertullian challenged the infidel world 
to produce one Christian who had engaged in any of the frequent 
conspiracies against government. And thus has it ever been ; — 
in just the proportion that Christianity has been pure in the nations 
of the earth, it has bound the rulers and the people to each other, 
by making those just and these submissive. The subject has hon- 
ored the king, and the king in return has protected the subject ; — 
and permanent and happy governments have been the result. Just 
as a family is orderly and happy where the famdy rules are just and 
are obeyed, so in such governments there has been equity and quiet 



and prosperity. We cannot therefore but feel that Christianity has 
wrought an immense and happy intiuence in the respect we have 
considered — that here is furnished an evidence of its truth — and 
that government to become more perfect than it is, need only submit 
to the more extended influence of the Faith. ^ 

2. Let us notice the influence of Christianity on Slavery. 

By Slavery we mean involuntary servitude — the holding of men 
as property. Slavery is very ancient. It was prevalent at the time 
of Christ and his Apostles, and is prevalent now. The question 
therefore is — has Slavery been influenced by Cl)ristianity — and how 
has this influence been effected 1 In remarking upon the influence 
of Christianity on Government, we accounted for the fact from the 
nature and commands of our religion, and then stated the fact — 
but we shall now reverse this order, by stating the fact, and then ac- 
counting for it. 

(1.) The fact. This we shall learn by contrasting Slavery with- 
out Christianity, with its modification and abolition in countries un- 
der the influence of the Faith. And as my limits are brief I shall 
not exhibit the state of Slavery as it exists and ever has existed in 
savage and barbarous countries, but look only at the northern and 
eastern shores of the Mediterranean at about the period of the 
Christian era. What was Slavery then ? I answer in the language 
of Dr. Channing — that eloquent friend of the oppressed, whose 
writings rank him with the best philanthropists and patriots of the 
times — I quote his words at length : — " It was the Slavery not so 
much of black as of white men, not merely of barbarians but of 
Greeks, not merely of the ignorant and debased, but of the virtu- 
ous, educated and refined. Piracy and conquest were the chief 
means of supplying the slave market, and they heeded neither char- 
acter nor condition. Sometimes the greater part of the population 
of a captured city were sold into bondage, sometimes the whole, as 
in the case of Jerusalem. Noble and royal families, the rich and 
the great, the learned and powerful, the philosopher and poet, the 
wisest and best men were condemned to the chain. Such was an- 
cient Slavery. * * * * Had Napoleon on capturing Berlin or 
Vienna, doomed most or the whole of their inhabitants to bondage ; 
had he seized on venerable matrons, the mothers of illustrious men, 
who were reposing, after virtuous lives, in the bosom of grateful 
families; had he seized on the delicate, refined, beautiful young 

' The author did not feel that the subject required him to discuss the questions of 
Passive obedience, and Liberty of Conscience. 



8 

woman, whose education had prepared her to grace the sphere in 
which God had placed her, and over all whose prospects, the fresh- 
est hopes and most glowing imaginations of early life were breathed; 
had he seized on the minister of religion, the man of science, the 
man of genius, the sage, the guides of the world; had he scattered 
these through the slave markets of the world, and transferred them 
to the highest bidders at public auction, the men to be converted 
into instruments of slavish toil, the women into instruments of lust, 
and both to endure whatever indignities and tortures absolute power 
can inflict ; we should then have had a picture in the present age, 
of slaver)'' as it existed in the time of Paul." ^ 

And as I am now upon a question of fact, and as I choose to re- 
fer constantly to authorities, in exhibiting Slavery as it was in the 
period to which we have alluded, I will quote from an English work 
by the Rev. William Harness ~ — a man whose writings prove him 
also to be the faithful and undaunted friend of the oppressed. " It 
is very little considered," he says, " how widely the bonds of ser- 
vitude weie spread, and how entirely the large body of the people, 
before they received the emancipation of Christianity, were de- 
pressed beneath them. In Athens the citizens were thirty thousand, 
the slaves four hundred thousand. [More than thirteen slaves to 
one freeman !] In Sparta the Helotae were so much more numer- 
ous than the freemen, that lest they should obtain an overwhelming 
superiority, it was customary for bands of the Spartan youth to be 
sent secretly, from time to time, into the country, that they might 
murder every Helot whom they met. This was a measure of com- 
mon political precaution. There is no reason for supposing that 
the number of slaves in Greece, exceeded that of other nations. In 
comparison with Italy, the reverse appears to have been the case. 
Ten thousand slaves of a day have often been sold for the use of 
the Romans, at Delus in Cilicia. When it was once proposed in 
the Senate to mark the Slaves by a peculiarity of dress, the motion 
was rejected on the plea of its danger, lest it should become the 
means of informing them of their numerical superiority. And we 
read of individuals who were in possession of many hundreds and 
even thousands of these miserable dependants" ^ — " ten or twenty 
thousand," who tilled the lands in chains.'* Speaking of Athens, 
in another place, Mr Harness says : — " The streets, the fields, the 

1 Slavery, pp. 120, l21. « The Connexion of Christianity with Human Happiness. 
3 Vol. 1. p. 83. note. ■• Wilson's Ev. of Ch. Vol. 1. p. 239. 



habitations of the Athenian, were crowded with his troops of slaves. 
****#** iIq resented their slightest crrors"with the 
most merciless inflictions. He tutored them to duty, ' as wild beasts 
are tamed,' with stripes and cruelest severities. He debased their 
natures by habitual licentiousness ; he endeavored to extinguish 
in their breasts every spark of generous or manly feeling, by illibe- 
ral education, by accustoming them to blows, and indignities and 
insults." " This," says Potter in his Archelogia, " was the condi- 
tion of the slaves at Athens, which though deplorable enough, — if 
compared with that of their fellow sufferers in other cities, seems 
easy, tolerable, and not to be repined at. They were wholly at the 
command of their masters, to be employed as they saw convenient 
in the worst and most wretched drudgeries ; and to be used at their 
discretion, punished, starved, beaten, tormented, and that inmost 
places without any appeal to superior power, and punished even 
with death itself" " The slave was interdicted," says Mr. Har- 
ness, " from repeating the songs of the freemen." " Those are the 
songs of our masters, and those we dare not sing," said they, when 
they were requested to sing the Odes of Terpander. " What Chris- 
tian could endure the thought that the old domestic animal, which 
had become enfeebled in his employ, should be exposed as the mise- 
rable bondsmen of the Romans were, when decay or accident had 
rendered them unnecessary, to perish of hopeless want, on an island 
of the Tiber?" Potter says of " the famous Roman Cato, a man 
celebrated in all ages for his exact observance of the strictest rules 
of justice, [that] when his servants grew old, and unfit for labor, 
notwithstanding they had been very faithful and serviceable to him, 
and had spent their youth and strength in laboring for him ; for all 
this, when years came upon them, and their strength failed them, 
he would not be at the expense of maintaining them, but either 
turned them away to provide for themselves, or let them starve to 
death in his own family." The doors of the rich were sometimes 
kept and opened by chained slaves. The stranger could not sleep, 
for his rest was disturbed by the noise of "whips and lashes," and the 
cries of the suffering slaves at midnight. When masters of house- 
holds were found dead, all their slaves " amounting sometimes to 
thousands" were put to death. Vedius Pollio threw his slaves, " on 
the most trifling fault," into his fish ponds, to fatten and make deli- 
cate his lampreys. They were slain by hundreds at the Coliseum 
for the amusement of the people — and at the same place, and for 
the same purpose, they were exposed to be devoured by lions and 
2 



10 

panthers, which Caligula had previously fattened on the flesh of 
slaves to increase their ferocity. ^ 

Such was Slavery at about the time of Christ — so prevalent, so 
unspeakably crue! and murderous : — and who on contrasting Slave- 
ry then with what is now in this land, does not behold a difference 
unspeakably wide ? But here let it it be distinctly understood, that 

1 would not excuse Slavery in this land of vaunted freedom, be- 
cause it is not so cruel as it once was in Rome. Slavery is slavery, 
whether the slaves are well or ill treated, and under any modifi- 
cation I cannot but believe it sin. 

I would not have a slave to till my ground, 
To carry me, to fan me while I sleep, 
And tremble when I wake, for all the wealth 
That sinews bought and sold have ever earned. 

No, I would not ! I could not with my Bible in my hand, and its 
law within my heart ! 

Passing over in a word, the Christian countries of Europe which 
have emancipated their slaves, and also the States of this Union 
which have done the same noble deed, and looking at Slavery as it 
now exists in our Southern States, the eye is at once relieved from 
the pain it had felt in viewing Greece and Rome. The slaves at 
the South are of a widely different character from those who wore 
the chains in ancient times,- and their number compared with those 
in ancient Slavery, is small indeed. We have but about two and 
an half millions of slaves in the Slave-States, to four or five millions 
of freemen ; and to make the number equal to that of Greece and 
Rome, that two and an half millions must be increased to almost 
one hundred millions. And although there are many, very many 
oppressive laws on the slaves, and the laws which protect them are 
not always enforced; and although there are many cases of licen- 
tiousness and cruelty, as there always will be, while the odious sys- 
tem of Slavery exists in any form — yet the laws provide for their 
general good treatment — I mean physically, of course, — and a ma- 
jority of the slaves are well fed, well clothed, and not overworked.^ 
Indeed although Slavery is still the same in principle, and is the 
greatest tcrong which one man can inflict itpon another — (I say not 

> Harness, Vol. 1. pp. 89, 90, 93, 115, and 91, 116 where the quotations from Potter 
may be found; Vol. 2, pp. 11, 13, 15, IG. Ovid, Amor. Seneca, Epis. Wilson's Evi- 
dences of Ch. Vol. 1. p. 239, Fuller's Complete Works, Vol. 1. p. 131. 

2 This liowever affects the evils of Slavery, not the principle. 

3 This is a question of fact, and the evidence is before the public. Others doubtless 
will think differently from myself. 1 might have added that in many parts of the South, 



11 

the greatest sin in the siglit of God, as some say, for concerning 
that, God has made no revelation) it is practically quite a diiferent 
thing, from what it was in the period we have before contemplated. 
And what has made this difference? What genial influence has 
wrought this change? Christianity has done it. The page of his- 
tory is plain on this subject. " Constantine," says Mr. Harness, 
*' issued a decree that every slave who embraced Christianity, should 
receive his immediate emancipation. ' As our Redeemer become 
incarnate,' said Gregory the Great on emancipating his slaves, ' to 
deliver us from the slavery of sin ; so should we restore those to 
freedom who are constrained by the Slavery of men? Religion 
and liberty advanced with an equal progress ; whenever the church 
received any donation of lands, the vassals of the soil were bap- 
tized, and emancipated. The constant penance which the Confes- 
sor imposed on the crimes of every wealthy penitent, was the en- 
franchisement of his own slaves, and the redemption of the slaves 
of others. In every Christian country, the miseries of Slavery have 
retreated before the gospel, or contended in a yielding opposition to 
the zeal of its benevolence. Like Satan it has been trodden down 
under foot of the Messiah ; all evil things appear tenacious of exist- 
ence, but however protracted may be her expiring agonies, Slavery 
has received her death-blow ; and that blow was given by one who 
gloried in the Cross of his Saviour, and was actuated by the mo- 
tives, and argued on the principles of Christianity." ^ Such has 
been the influence of our Faith upon the involuntary servitude of 
men — and such must be its influence, till the hated evil is driven 
from one hiding place to another, and eventually is forced to for- 
sake the earth. My assurance of the ultimate freedom of all men 
would receive no increase, should I see it prophesied in sun-like let- 
ters, all along on the blue vault of the sky. Christianity and Slave- 
ry are antagonist principles, and Christianity must conquer. 

Such being the fact, (2.) we account for it. How has Chris- 
tianity wrought this influence? A stranger to the principles of 
Christianity would have pronounced such an influence impossible. 
But it was not so. Christianity made the master mild, and the slave 
meek under his injuries. Jt drew their hearts to each other, and 

a majority of the Slaves receive oral religious instruction. As large a proportion of 
blacks are professors of religion as whites, perhaps a larger. Still, to say that rational 
beings are treated as God would have them treated, when they arc denied intellectual 
cultivation and the reading of His word, seems to me preposterous. And yet if they 
had every intellectual and moral advantage. Slavery would be Slavery still ! 
« Vol. 1. p. 119. 



12 

in the words of Paul, made them " beloved brothers." This was the 
legitimate working of faith in the heart. To quote the words of 
Mr, Harness once more : " Confidence expelled restraint ; — the yoke 
of servitude was lightened : — the exactions were mitigated : — the 
severities repressed : — the bonds were broken. "^ 

And not only did the spirit of Christianity tend to this result, but 
its teachings likewise. Neither Christ nor his " chiefest Apostle" 
said one word directly against the unlawfulness of Slavery, but they 
published those principles which would necessarily subvert it. 
When Christ said, " all things whatsoever ye would that others 
should do to you, do ye even so to them," he urged a truth diamet- 
rically opposed to Slavery ; and then wisely he left it, like leaven, to 
work out its own results. It was so also with Paul. He addressed 
the slave in language like this : — Be obedient to your masters " with 
good will doing service, as unto the Lord, and not to men : knowing 
that whatsoever good thing any man docth, the same shall he re- 
ceive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free," that is, a slave or a free- 
man. And to the master he said, " ye masters do the same things, 
moderating threatening, knowing that your Master also is in heaven, 
neither is there respect of persons with him." Thus the master 
and the slave were, by the teachings of religion, placed upon the 
same footing ; of both were required the manifestations of the 
same new principle of heart, — and that new principle was love, 
and that love was to melt the chains from the oppressed. Nor 
could the Apostle wisely have pursued another course. Dr. Way- 
land says, and Dr. Channing quotes his words: " Had [Christiani- 
ty] forbid the evil, instead of subverting the principle, had it pro- 
claimed the unlawfulness of Slavery, and taught slaves to resist the 
oppression of their masters, it would instantly have arrayed the two 
parties in deadly hostility throughout the civilized world, and the 
very name of the Christian Religion would have been lost amid the 
agitations of universal bloodshed. "^ " Slavery," says Dr. Channing, 
" in the age of the Apostles, had so penetrated society, was so inti- 
mately interwoven with it, and the materials of servile war were so 
abundant, that a religion preaching freedom to its victims, would 
have shaken the social fabric to its foundation, and would have 
armed against itself the whole power of the State. Of consequence 
Paul did not assail it. He satisfied himself with spreading princi- 
ples, which however slowly, could not but work its destruction." ^ 

> Vol. 1. p. 118. » Moral Science, Boston Ed. p. 213. » Slavery, p. 122. 



13 

He doubtless felt a strong sympathy for the woes of the slave, anc 
saw the wrongs of his condition — but knowing that Christianity and 
Slavery are in everlasting opposition, he avoided any immediate ill 
effects of preaching the results of Christianity, by preaching its 
principles. He knew indeed that the results would come in conse- 
quence, but he knew too that thus they would come peacefully. And 
under his preaching was commenced an emancipation which to this 
day has not ceased. Slavery has retreated before the extension of 
Religion — and before the same heavenly influence it must continue 
to retreat, until in vain it seeks a habitation on earth. Let the doc- 
trines of the Cross be felt by master and slave, and the chains will 
sever, and the oppressed will go free. 

Here then in what Christianity has done, in what she is doing, 
and in what her nature, her precepts, her promises and her history, 
pledge that she will do, to modify and remove Slavery, that greatest 
temporal wrong to man, — is furnished another evidence of its truth, 
and o( the duty of regarding it as the only hope of the world. 
She has opened the prison doors, and brought deliverance to the 
captive. She has lighted up with heavenly radiance, the darkened 
hut of the wretch whom his master regarded as but a step's remove 
from the brute, and given him hope of freedom on high. In many 
countries she has already broke his chains — and she assures that a 
golden age shall yet come — when there shall be " neither lord nor 
slave," but all shall be brethren — one in Christ Jesus. Happy day ! 
God speed its coming ! 

I have now but few practical remarks. If, my brethren, Chris- 
tianity have influence on government, let us seek to secure to her 
the exercise of that influence. For the discharge of our duties as 
citizens we are responsible to God. Let us therefore be careful to 
aid in placing in power those only who will use power well, and 
pledge ourselves to no party but the party of Christian government. 
Not that I would ask an alliance between the Church and the 
State ; far from it : Christ's Kingdom is not of this world, and 
with forms of government his kingdom never intermeddles. I ask 
only that the justice and equity of the Faith, may be the living prin- 
ciple in the laws. And in our own lives, let us manifest a meek 
submission to the powers that be, acknowledging that they are or- 
dained of God. If Paul taught submission when the King was 
Nero, that perpetual proverb of savageness and cruelty, — certainly 
then should we be submissive, when our rulers are those of our 
own choice. If the laws express opinions which our judgment 



14 

condemns, or tolerates evils at which our hearts revolt, it is our duty 
as Christians to submit until by a meek yet determined effort, we 
can revolutionise the general sentiment, and obtain a legal remedy. 
He that said fear God, said also honor the King. 

As to our practical duty in regard to Slavery, I have but a word 
to say. I could not say much without involving myself in the prev- 
alent discussion of that topic ; and this is neither the thne nor the 
place for a discussion of that kind. If the measures of the Anti- 
Slavery Society meet your views of duty, join it, and God give you 
success. If you choose to join another society, or none, I shall not 
interfere. I do not belong to any society myself, and from a general 
objection to societies, it is not probable that I ever shall. Indeed 
as a minister of Christ, I have nothing to do with this matter, ex- 
cept as a question of morality and religion. I have ever sought, and 
in this discourse I have done only the same, to shew the principles 
which oppose Slavery ; these every man must carry out according to 
the dictate of his own wisdom, — and I shall be the last to molest 
him. 

This however I will say ; if the omnipotence of Christianity be 
opposed to Slavery, then whatever is done to promote Christianity 
is the best and strongest weapon to bring against this evil. I am 
therefore confident that in every prayer you offer — in every hymn 
that ascends from yonder gallery — in every sermon from this pulpit, 
Emancipation is promoted. Yes, even at the South, the minister of 
religion who holds up to master and slave the Cross of Christ, as 
the sinner's only hope, preaches Emancipation. The pious, but we 
think mistaken slaveholder, who gathers his family around his own 
fire-side — his wife, his children, his slaves — to join in prayer to God, 
promotes Emancipation. And even the pious but afflicted slave, 
who in the lonely cabin that has been desolated by the sale and re- 
moval of his wife and child, if he have faith in the Saviour of sin- 
ners, and offer his tearful and broken prayer to God — even he, pro- 
motes Emancipation. The elements of Emancipation, in the spirit 
of Christianity, are at work silently, yet certainly, all over the South 
— and can no more be separated from the moral feeling there, than 
warmth can be from the burning sun. Promote Christianity there- 
fore, and the slaves will go free. 



^ 



